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Gender, women and health

WHO > Programmes and projects > Gender, women and health

Main content Gender-based violence

ICRC/Nick Danziger

Gender-based violence, or violence against women (VAW), is a major public health and human rights problem throughout the world.

Violence against women has profound implications for health but is often ignored. WHO's World Report on Violence and Health notes that "one of the most common forms of violence against women is that performed by a husband or male partner.” This type of violence is frequently invisible since it happens behind closed doors, and effectively, when legal systems and cultural norms do not treat as a crime, but rather as a "private" family matter, or a normal part of life.

Priority work of GWH in VAW includes:

The WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence Against Women
It is a landmark study, both in its scope and in how it was carried out. The report shows that violence against women is widespread with far-reaching health consequences. It calls on governments to take concerted action and makes recommendations for the health, education and criminal justice sectors to take the problem seriously.

This groundbreaking research has gathered comparable data from over 24,000 women interviewed in 15 sites in 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, and the United Republic of Tanzania.

:: Click here for full information
Sexual Violence
:: Click here for full information
Sexual Violence: Strengthening the Health Sector Response
Sexual violence is a pervasive global problem with significant health consequences for victims, yet in many places around the world, available services do not meet the needs of survivors.

This initiative includes the development of guidelines for providing care to sexual assault survivors and the development of a framework to guide health sector policies related to sexual violence.

:: Sexual Violence: Strengthening the Health Sector Response
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
This initiative is designed to increase information about, awareness of, and capacity to address sexual violence around the globe, and particularly in the developing world. The Intiative's Secretariat is currently based in South Africa.

:: Click here for full information
Interaction of VAW and HIV
GWH highlights the intersections of violence against women and HIV/AIDS for annual campaigns such as the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence and World AIDS Days.

:: Click here for full information


WHAT'S NEW?

GWH Monthly update
:: July 2007 [doc 258kb]

:: Integrating gender analysis and actions into the work of WHO: draft strategy


10 facts about women's health
:: Click here


GWH New publications
:: New Publications



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EVENTS

:: International Women's Day (IWD) 2007 --Interagency panel: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict

:: WHO Events


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FEATURED



:: WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women

:: WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies [pdf 308kb]


:: Clinical Management of Rape Survivors: Developing protocols for use with refugees and internally displaced persons --Revised edition

:: Gender and Health in Disasters
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genderandhealth@who.int

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